This should’ve gone up much earlier today, but I completely forgot. My bad. No more delay, right to the Super picks…

Picks Title Note: Since Ryan and I both picked New England and since he’s more than a game ahead of Monte P., Ryan clinches the overall victory no matter what happens Sunday.

I’d say I’ll buy him lunch as his reward, but he already owes me lunch for a Nnamdi Asomugha wager (I picked the under on interception total) and I’m not letting him off for nothing.

1. RYAN (last round 1-1, overall 34-23-4)/

* NEW ENGLAND -3, over NY Giants. Ryan comment: This is a delicious number, because every Super Bowl in the Brady/Belichick era — three up, one down — has been decided by exactly three points. And I’m sure the Giants are better than a 50/50 pick because they’re a two-way team while the Pats are just going to have to Loyola Marymount it.

But I think that can work against the G-men, who will start the game just trying to get to the fourth quarter while Belichick is going full-throttle from the opening snap…

Plus I’m pretty sure Kawakami is going to take the Giants, and if he does, without knowing what Monte P is doing this creates a one-game winner-take-all for 2011 Blog Supremacy. So I will say New England 27, New York 20, JR wins the blog.

* NEW ENGLAND -3, over NY Giants. My comment: I’ll keep it short, because there’s a full prediction column coming in Sunday’s paper. However, the very short version goes something like…

I’ve been riding the Giants throughout the postseason because I think they’ve got big-game passrushers, a QB and WR play-makers, which means they’re excellent when they get hot, and they got hot at exactly the right time. BUT… I think this is the wrong match-up for them.

New England is just enough different from the 49ers, Packers and Falcons… just enough.

It’s not that I think Tom Brady needs extra motivation to win a Super Bowl–the “motivation” issue is always overblown, in my mind, when championships are at stake, anyway.

But I think that Brady has played poorly in several notable playoff moments–starting with Super Bowl XLII against the NYGs and continued to the AFC title game victory over Baltimore.

In a word, I think Brady is due for an enormous performance, whether Rob Gronkowski is close to 100% or not, and I think Belichick can draw up a defense that keeps the Giants’ offensive relatively in check.

New England’s defense is nowhere near as good as the 49ers, but I think there’s some elements in what the 49ers did to clamp down the Giants in the second half that the Patriots can do, too.

Wait, this wasn’t short at all. Oh well. I think the Patriots keep it close into the fourth, then Brady puts two more TDs on the board in a rare NE blow-out Super Bowl victory, 37-21

3. POOLE (last round 0-2, overall 30-22-9)/

-Picks TBA.

4. BACH (last round 0-2, overall 32-25-4)/

* NY GIANTS +3, over New England. Bach comment: I’m going with the trend and taking the Giants. Their defense is clicking and they have the receivers.

5. PURDY (last round 0-2, overall 30-26-5)/

–Picks TBA.
* NY GIANTS + 3, over New England. Purdy comment: The Giants have more talent and better-rounded roster. The Patriots have the better coach. It’ll come down to one play making a diference. And with more better players, the Giants have a better chance to make that play.

6. KILLION (last round 2-0, overall 29-28-4)/

* NY GIANTS +3, over New England. Killion comment: Giants–Best, most balanced team in football for the last six weeks. No idea how New England will cover Giants receivers. Brady is awesome but he won’t match Montana.

—-My extra stuff…

I’ll make the Patriots -3 a 12-star play. Last round, I missed my 8-star play with
Baltimore. Overall, I’m +34 stars on the season.